Infinity

Paintings and paper sculpture works by Gemma Cossey and Jane Ponsford. Curated by Jane Boyer.

We exist in infinite space, even though our daily lives, filled with minutiae, take us far away from that infinity. Gemma Cossey and Jane Ponsford embrace the infinite in humble ways. For them, infinity is not a place far away; it’s a place deep inside.

We can’t speak of infinity without reference to Yayoi Kusama, arguably the artist most engaged with the subject of infinity. Gemma’s striking resonance with Kusama’s Infinity Nets is clear, just as the repetition of form in Jane’s work echoes Kusama’s obsessive repetitions of dots. However, both Gemma and Jane diverge from Kusama in one important way, obliteration does not concern them. Gemma and Jane ‘record’ time, experience, movement and place in their work. Jane says of her paper pulp, “I enjoy using this material because it brings together surface and form. It is evocative, reminiscent of documentation and archives. Staining and tearing easily, it can be seen as the receptive surface for forensic investigation or a blank form to catch light or shadow….I am interested in working with the materials of particular settings and landscapes, the chalk and clay and silt and the traces that they leave.” In this way, Jane’s activity and experience of place is made present through an indexical trace for those who view her work. Gemma and Jane share a passion to engage with the tension of dual purpose: to work with directed and planned engagement, while inviting serendipity out for a stroll.